Manuela Ritondale

Manuela Ritondale is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen, specializing in Digital Humanities, GIS spatial analysis, and maritime archaeology. Her research focuses on applying complexity science and formal modelling to Roman maritime connectivity, shipwreck distribution, and cultural heritage preservation. She holds a PhD from the University of Groningen and is affiliated with the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI as a Scholar (2025-2028). She serves on the Editorial Board of Springer Nature's Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

Her work bridges archaeology and digital methods, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to historical data biases and maritime spatial planning. Key projects include analyzing Roman shipwrecks in the Mediterranean to model connectivity patterns and co-developing frameworks for ethical AI applications in cultural heritage. She collaborates with institutions like the Barcelona Complexity Lab and the AURORA Trust, focusing on Mediterranean shipwrecks and geophysical survey techniques.

Ritondale teaches courses on GIS, Digital Humanities, and Spatial Analysis at the University of Groningen, integrating fieldwork with computational tools. Her research has been funded by the Catharine van Tussenbroek Scholarship and published in journals like the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal and Assemblage. She actively participates in international conferences and public dissemination of archaeological findings through digital platforms.